24 Responses

Flair. Hogan was the bigger draw, but he had McMahon’s genius marketing behind him. He also had the look. Flair climbed his way up from an even playing field, plus he was (and still is) better than Hogan both in the ring and on the mic.

Flair was always my favorite since the old nwa days, but seeing how he goes about things now degraded him to me. I never liked hogan much till wcw, and now I see he really shows he cares about the business, so I say hogan.

Flair. Current Shenanigans by both put aside, in the 80’s Flair was the man. He carried himself like a champion, and could get it done in the ring. Hogan might have been a draw but he could never wrestle, and he was always cartoon cheesy. I always thought his Hulkamania character was borderline gay. Not homosexual gay but just gay. A lot like the way Cena acts today on TV. Sometimes you have to look away because it is so gay.

@thatoneguy. You might want to brush up on your history. Flair was already famous when he entered the group you have in mind. Or do things like main-eventing every single Starrcade up to that moment do not count?

@steve. How is Hogan showing that he cares about the business?

@Travis. Hogan could wrestle (see Japan), he just didn’t have to. I always hated Hulkamania, even at its peak, but facts are facts.

On a sidenote, I remember a fantasy tournament in PWI sometime in the late eighties, it came down to Hogan and Flair, with Flair coming out on top.

Absolutely, no question’s asked, Flair. Vince created and made Hulkamania. Yes, Hogan made it work, but Verne Gagne didn’t, or couldn’t, do it. Only Vince could. Flair became “The Man” long before ever getting to Vince’s promotional machine.

I appreciated Flair as I got older. But I was always a bigger Hogan fan. I would say to some of you to check out vintage Hogan back in Japan. No big star in the under Vince Jr. ever has to wrestle hard. Limited move sets are necessary for simplistic fans to remember.

So you are telling me Hogan could wrestle just only in Japan? The guy had two decades on top with American TV, and could not give us one good match. But it’s OK because he didn’t have to?

If you paid money to go see a Metallica concert and they played like Sh*t would you say “oh it’s OK they don’t have to put on a good show” or “It’s OK back in the day they played lights out in Japan”

Hulk might have sold more merch to the kids, but the question was who was the better professional wrestler not who was the best sports entertainer. Flair was hands down the better professional wrestler. Facts are facts.

@Travis. I paid money for Wrestlemania VI, the only time I saw Hogan live, left fully satisfied with the main event, you want to tell me that Warrior carried that match? He didn’t have to put on a great in-ring performance all the time because of his connection with the crowd, he got bigger pops than anyone, so what was the point of physical stress?

When you are asked to compare Flair and Hogan, it’s never just about in-ring, that’s like comparing steak and puke, it’s about the whole package. Professional wrestling isn’t just in the ring, there’s a reason the Dynamite Kid never even sniffed a world title.

And yeah, Flair was the better wrestler by far, but he was also the better overall performer. I explained that in my first post.

If we’re talking wrestling ability then it’s Flair, no doubt. He’s one of the best to step in the ring.
If we’re talking in that professional wrestler as an entertainer sense, it’s Hogan and Hogan by a distance.